In Lyon, the sale of a restaurant of the Paul Bocuse group to McDonald’s contested by residents
“Let us not mix tea towels and napkins, nor the king of fast food with that of French gastronomy”: this is how the journalist from France 3 launched, in 1992, a subject about the chef Paul Bocuse, whose image was used without his consent by McDonald’s in the Netherlands, and who went on a crusade against the American ogre.
Sixteen years later, the “Monsieur Paul” group launched its own Ouest Express fast food restaurants to reconcile fast meals and quality. In 2021, patatras! The flagship of Lyon cuisine decides to sell its Ouest Express in the Vaise district of Lyon (Rhône) to… McDonald’s.
“We don’t need a 32nd McDonald’s in Lyon”
The information strikes local residents who, in September, decide to mobilize against the project. “We don’t need a 32nd McDonald’s in Lyon,” plague Alex, member of the Non Au McDo Vaise-Industrie collective (NAMVI). The latter would prefer to see a producers’ hall set up, a service that is lacking in this part of Lyon.
Nowadays, their solicitation on the Internet nearly 6,500 signatures. Met, the ecological majority publicly supported their approach. “We did not authorize the installation, since it is a private transaction. But we regret the symbol. McDonald’s is not really the sustainable food model that we defend, ”says Camille Augey, sales assistant.
For its part, the Bocuse group assured the Lyon Capitale newspaper “Fully assume” the sale of this restaurant whose configuration and location that “only McDonald’s was able to afford.” “I do not believe that Mr. Paul would have accepted that”, slice, for his part Alex. According to our information, a meeting between the mayor of Lyon and the Bocuse group should take place in the coming days.